Mohamed Saad Saad من عند Bruay-sur-l'Escaut, فرنسا من عند Bruay-sur-l'Escaut, فرنسا

Paired with Watchmen as the 1986 comics landmarks that "changed everything," The Dark Knight Returns should be more famous for "ending" an icon rather than just making him an absolute badass (although that does happen here, thanks to hardcore violence, broken backs, gutshots, and some of the best hardboiled "tough guy" dialog in recent memory). We've all heard the cliche, but the fundamental flaw with most long-running superhero comics is that characters don't die. While I won't say if Batman joins the choir invisible, The Dark Knight Returns does offer an ending, which was very rare for '86, especially for a character such as Batman, and is still rare today.